B.C. Rich is back with a firestorm of new signature models created in collaboration with Kerry King, legendary guitarist for Thrash Metal titans Slayer. Four new models are available, each bearing finishes, features and tones approved by King himself.

Two models feature an intense new Kerry King graphic: The Kerry King V Flame Generation 2 depicts a two-tone tribal graphic over a flaming backgound image and the Kerry King V Metal Master Generation 2 shows this same graphic over a gloss Black finish. The Generation 2 images are based on the B.C. Rich Handcrafted guitars that King plays on tour with Slayer.

The monarch of uniquely designed and shaped guitars have once again teamed up with the ruler of metal to introduce the next innovated guitar design. So sit back and brace yourself for the sinister B.C. Rich Kerry King Beast V, Beast V NT and V2. Inspired by Kerry King himself, the Beast V is known as the unholy alliance between B.C. Rich’s famous Beast body shape and Speed V design.

The Beast V (pictured below) is equipped with B.C. Rich B.D.S.M. humbucker pickups and a fully adjustable bridge with a string-through body design for even more added sustain. The guitar has a rosewood fingerboard, Beast headstock and bolt-on neck construction.

The Beast V NT version (pictured below) features neck-through body construction for added sustain and tone and improved access to the upper frets. It is equipped with B.C. Rich active pickups and a Kahler locking tremolo.

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In addition to the new models, B.C. Rich is now offering Kerry’s exclusive Generation 2 graphics on the V2 and Metal Master V2 model guitars.

For the hundreds and thousands of people that have seen the godfather, Kerry King, on stage with Slayer have recently seen his Generation 2 graphics. This striking new tribal design is floating over a hand drawn flame making it visually stunning. Now B.C. Rich is bringing this remarkably new graphic to a new production model V-shaped guitar called the Kerry King V2. (see photo below)

The body shape is the aggressively styled B.C. Rich speed V and it has been augmented with many Kerry King inspired features. The V2 model is equipped with B.C.R.A. active pickups and a genuine Kahler locking tremolo. It also features a basswood body, bolt-on construction, ebony fingerboard with a specially designed inlay and a Beast headstock. The 24 jumbo frets provide 2 full octaves of notes to shred.

Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman’s paint-splattered Gibson Les Paul Standard and BC Rich Mockingbird have much to answer for. After all, they’re the axes that helped launch Slayer’s now infamous legacy of brutality. “That Les Paul was defiantly my first real guitar,” recalls Jeff Hanneman. “I had a couple of clunkers before that but nothing that really played that well or even stayed in tune. I bought it off a friend for $500, I’m not sure when it was made but it was in great condition when I first got it. Since then I’ve pretty much beat it to hell,” he laughs.

“I put a Seymour Duncan pickup in the bridge position—I can’t remember which on but it may have been a Distortion,” Hanneman continues. “I had a Kahler tremolo put on her, too. Actually, the guy who put it in for me was the first guitarist in Megadeth, Chris Poland. I think he did it for 50 bucks! To do the paint job I taped up the pickups, dipped a stick in some red paint and just splashed it on there. I think I screwed some chains on her for awhile, too.”

Hanneman’s Les Paul appeared on both Slayer’s debut, Show No Mercy (1983), and the Haunting the Chapel mini album (1984). “It might have showed up on a couple of songs after that but I retired it before Reign in Blood (1986),” he says. “Like I said, I’d pretty much beat it to shit. I used to drop it on stage and let it bounce and I’d drag it across the stage by the lead too. I think it’s still playable but the neck is pretty tweaked!”

“My dad got me that ’77 BC Rich Mockingbird when I was about 16,” says Kerry King. “That was before strap-locks were real popular, and one time it just fell down and broke the headstock right off. I didn’t know what to tell my Dad! I was like, ‘Oh man, I might just as well move now, because I’ve got a gun shot coming to my head! He was cool about it, though, and we took it to the BC Rich factory to get it fixed. They put three rods in the neck where the head broke off, and we had it painted red too. It was natural koa wood before that. Had I known how cool the guitar was at the time, I’d have probably never had it painted.”

Like Hanneman, King had a Kahler whammy system added ti his guitar but left the pickups alone. “I’m pretty sure they’re the stock DiMarzios it came with—probably a Super Distortion [bridge] and a PAF [neck].” Also, like Hanneman, Kerry added his own personal touch to the axe. “I don’t think I did mine because Jeff did his, but it’s so long ago I don’t remember,” he laughs. “I got a little eight-ounce can of black paint, stuck a drum stick in it and dribbled paint all over the guitar—very musical!

“I used it on Show No Mercy, Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits (1985). I might have also used it on some Reign in Blood, but by then it was pretty much retired and replaced by a [BC Rich] Warlock.”